Depth matters: cells grown on nano-porous anodic alumina respond to pore depth.

Recent experiments have shown unambiguously that living cells respond to the nano-topography of surfaces they grow on-specifically, the fate of stem cells grown on nano-porous titania or alumina have been shown to be decided by the pore size. However, most experiments have focused on pore size or pitch. Here we show that in addition to pore size and pitch, the depth of the pores has a profound effect on cell morphology and the arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton.

Adhesion, phagocytosis and cell surface energy. The binding of fixed human erythrocytes to rat macrophages and polymethylpentene.

Fixed human erythrocytes were used as model particles for the study of adhesion and phagocytosis by rat peritoneal macrophages. Erythrocytes were fixed with various concentrations of glutaraldehyde or tannic acid, or were treated with neuraminidase. Adhesion and phagocytosis of these cells were measured. In addition, the surface energy of these erythrocytes and macrophages was estimated by the contact angle technique. Free energies of adhesion, based on the cell surface energies, were correlated with both adhesion and phagocytosis.

Oxidative metabolism of polymorphonuclear leukocytes: modulation by adhesive stimuli.

Different agents such as phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), N-formyl-methionyl-leucylphenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe), or opsonized zymosan induced an oxidative burst in rat peritoneal polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) elicited by casein. Plastic adhesion of PMNs down-regulated superoxide (O2) release stimulated by PMA or fMet-Leu-Phe but had no effect on zymosan-induced O2 generation, indicating that the O2 forming enzyme, the NADPH oxidase, was not affected by modulation and that a common step of the transductional events induced by PMA or fMet-Leu-Phe might be involved in this regulation. We demonstrated that a differential translocation of protein kinase C (PKC) was not responsible for that modulation. PMA-induced secretion of granule content (vitamin B12-binding protein) was not susceptible to modulation, suggesting that the transductional pathways leading to O2 generation and granule secretion are partly separated. The adhesion of PMNs to different substrates (glass, plastic, albumin-, laminin-, fibronectin-, poly-lysine-, or concanavalin A-coated plastic) down-regulated to different extent superoxide release. Whether the nature of the biochemical signal induced by the diverse adhesive stimuli or a physical parameter such as binding strength was involved in this differential behavior remains to be elucidated. Since adhesiveness was dependent on the state of the cytoskeleton and O2 inducers were reported to stimulate actin polymerization, we studied the F-actin content and distribution of PMNs by using the specific fluorescent probe NBD-phallacidin and an original methodology allowing a quantitative analysis of fluorescence on both adherent and suspended cells. PMA induced a polarization of F-actin on suspended PMNs but had no effect on the intracellular distribution of F-actin in adherent PMNs. Thus, we suggest that the adhesion of PMNs induced an immobilization of F-actin, possibly correlated to the down-regulation of one of the transductional pathways involved in the NADPH oxidase activation.

Self-limitation of the oxidative burst of rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

The oxidative response of rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate and N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine was studied. Ferricytochrome reduction and peroxidase-catalyzed decrease of scopoletin fluorescence were used to monitor O-2 and H2O2 release in the extracellular medium. Oxygen consumption was also measured in some experiments. Decrease of chlortetracyclin fluorescence after stimulation of dye-loaded cells was used to study an early step of cell stimulation. Finally, a possible relationship between cell responses and the medium redox potential was explored. Three major conclusions were obtained: Ferricytochrome reduction is dependent on the total cytochrome concentration, and a simple mathematical model allows a tentative estimate of total superoxide anion production by stimulated cells. Increasing cell concentration results in a decrease of individual cell response, and this may be accounted for by a direct inhibition of cell-released hydrogen peroxide on the reactivity of leukocytes. Further, H2O2 may be shown to inhibit an early step of cell response. The solution redox potential does not influence cell reactivity, since it may be dramatically decreased without inhibiting cell response.

Relationship between phagosome acidification, phagosome-lysosome fusion, and mechanism of particle ingestion.

The fate of pathogens ingested by macrophages is dependent on phagosome acidification and fusion with different intracellular vesicles. Whereas the mode of particle recognition by the phagocyte seems the main determinant of phagosome-lysosome fusion, the influence of membrane reorganization, fusion events, and cell activation in phagosome acidification is not well known. We looked for a relationship between the nature of receptors involved in phagocytosis, phagosome acidification, and phagosome-lysosome fusion. Murine macrophage-like P388D1 cells were made to ingest sheep erythrocytes coated with immunoglobulin G (EIgG) or IgM and complement (EIgMC) or treated with glutaraldehyde and periodate (EGP). The following results were obtained: (1) As expected, the adhesion of the three particle types was differentially inhibited by monoclonal antibodies specific for Fc gamma RII and CD11b/CD18. (2) The phagosomes containing all three particle types displayed similar acidification kinetics with a pH decrease to 6 within the first 10 min after ingestion. (3) Only phagosomes containing EIgG or EIgMC were fused with peroxidase-loaded secondary lysosomes. (4) Coating EGP with IgG only partially restored fusion, even when the surface density of IgG was markedly higher than found on EIgG. It is concluded that phagosome acidification and fusion are regulated by different mechanisms. Also, the lack of fusion observed with EGP is not entirely accounted for by the absence of stimulation of suitable receptors on the phagocyte membrane, because it cannot be restored by providing such a stimulus.

Myotonic dystrophy: defective oxidative burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Because myotonic dystrophy (MD) is an autosomal dominant multisystemic disorder affecting plasma membrane, we have studied the oxidative burst of PMNs. The PMA and fMet-Leu-Phe-stimulated superoxide generation is defective in the patient group as compared to controls: the response is both delayed and low. The kinetic parameters of the NADPH oxidase complex are not affected. We have not found any abnormalities in the membrane potential changes. In addition, the cytosolic protein kinase C (PKC) activity of resting PMNs is similar in MD patients and controls, and the translocation of protein kinase C in response to PMA is not impaired. The decrease of the oxidative response of PMNs from MD patients may be related to an abnormality of the environment of the NADPH oxidase.

The dependence of the association rate of surface-attached adhesion molecules CD2 and CD48 on separation distance.

The kinetics of bond formation between spherical beads coated with CD48 and CD2-derivatized surfaces was studied with a flow chamber. For a given shear rate, the binding frequency was exquisitively sensitive to the particle velocity. Flow equations were used to derive the particle-to-surface distance from the velocity, thus yielding a relationship between this distance and the binding rate. Numerical values of the binding site densities allowed absolute determination of the rate of association between two individual molecules as a function of the distance between attachment points. In our model, this rate was about 0.03 s-1 at 10 nm separation, and it was inversely proportional to the cube of the distance.

Measuring bonds between surface-associated molecules.

Adhesive interactions play an essential role in immune function. Much information on these phenomena was recently obtained by applying sophisticated methods such as the surface forces apparatus, atomic force microscopy, lipid vesicle-based technology or flow chambers. In the present review it is shown that the use of hydrodynamic flow allows quantitative study of the formation and dissociation of individual molecular bonds between receptor-bearing cells or particles and ligand-derivatized surfaces. In addition, it should be possible to determine particle-surface interaction forces with subpiconewton sensitivity and nanometer resolution. Data analysis shows that the classical concepts of bond strength, or association and dissociation rates must be reexamined in order to achieve a correct understanding of the behavior of individual molecules.

Evaluation of intercellular adhesion with a very simple technique.

Rosetting techniques are widely used to quantify or purify various lymphocytic subpopulations; however, these techniques cannot discriminate between different receptors of similar specificities and different binding strengths, further, they do not provide any information concerning the molecular mechanisms involved in cell-cell adhesion. This paper describes a very simple technique of assaying rosette stability: cell suspensions are driven with known pressure through a calibrated needle with a syringe. Adhesion is quantified before and after this treatment. This procedure did not damage rat peritoneal cells used in a model system. Further, this method yielded fairly reproducible results and allowed a crude estimate of the force involved in the binding of glutaraldehyde-treated sheep red cells (GSRC) or immunoglobulin-coated sheep red cells (IGSRC) by rat macrophages (an average force of 0.8 x 10(-7) Newton was needed to separate 50% of bound IGSRC from macrophages). Binding and binding strength were found to be independent parameters. Last, this method possibly provided a way of separating two distinct subpopulations of rat macrophages. It is suggested that this technique might be routinely used to refine rosette studies.

Interest of image processing in cell biology and immunology.

Microscopy is a basic tool for cell biologists. Recent progress of electronics and computer science made powerful methodologies for digital processing of microscopic images easily available. These methods allowed impressive increase of the power of conventional microscopy. Dramatic image enhancement may be achieved by combination of filtering techniques, computer-based deblurring and contrast enhancement. Quantitative treatment of digitized images allows absolute determination of the density of different components of the observed sample, including antigens, intracellular calcium and pH. Morphometric studies are also greatly facilitated by image processing techniques. The capture of fast phenomena may be performed by transfer of small portion of microscopic images into computer memory as well as particular use of confocal microscopy. Finally, improved display of experimental data through coded colors or other procedures may enhance the amount of information that can be conveyed by visual examination of microscopical images. The purpose of the present review is to describe the basic principles of image processing and exemplify the power of this approach with a variety of illustrated applications to conventional, fluorescence or electron microscopy as well as confocal microscopy.

Study of cell deformability by a simple method.

Cell deformability plays an important role in many immunological processes, such as phagocyte chemotaxis and endocytosis. The most widely used method of assay consists in aspirating cells into glass micropipettes and measuring the length of the protrusion induced by a given pressure, or the minimum pressure required to drive cells into the micropipette. This procedure requires specialized equipment and delicate manipulation. The present report describes a simpler procedure: cells are centrifuged in petri dishes floating on a water cushion, then fixed and coated with 0.8 micron diameter latex beads, which allows rapid and accurate determination of their height. This method is compared with the micropipette technique by studying lymphocyte and macrophage-like cell lines in physiological medium and in the presence of a divalent cation chelator or a microfilament inhibitor. In addition to simplicity, the main advantages of this technique are that (i) many cells may be examined within a reasonable period of time, which allows testing of heterogeneous cell populations, and (ii) unexpectedly, centrifugation was quite harmless under our experimental conditions, since it did not impair cell proliferative ability nor phagocytic ability. It is concluded that the method may be used in clinical laboratories to explore phagocyte dysfunctions, as well as in experimental studies.

Localization of calcium changes in stimulated rat mast cells.

We studied intracellular free, bound, and sequestered calcium in rat mast cells after various stimulations. The use of a fluorescent probe combined with digitized imaging on individual living cells demonstrated transient increases of free Ca2+ in the micromolar range. The use of histochemical techniques (K pyroantimonate and anhydrous fixation), together with X-ray microanalysis, energy electron-loss spectroscopy, and electron spectroscopic imaging, revealed large amounts of stored calcium within the cells (in the millimolar range). Chelation experiments and stimulations enabled us to identify at least two pools of bound calcium which exhibited different dynamic behaviors. Stimulation in the presence of EGTA did not modify calcium from granules, granule membranes, and heterochromatin, whereas it decreased calcium from other cell compartments. Stimulation triggered variations in the amount of bound calcium but they did not parallel free calcium movements. Hence, whereas free calcium is implicated in exocytosis, bound calcium may be involved in altogether different cell functions.

Cell fitting to adhesive surfaces: A prerequisite to firm attachment and subsequent events.

Cell adhesion usually involves extensive shape reorganization. This process is important because i) it is required for efficient cross-linking of interacting surfaces by adhesion receptors the length of which does not exceed several tens of nanometers and ii) it influences subsequent cell differentiation and activation. This review focuses on the initial phase of cell deformation, preceding the extensive reorganization process known as spreading. This first phase includes local flattening at the micrometer scale and membrane alignment at the nanometer level, resulting in fitting of the cell to an adhesive surface. Three main points are considered. First, experimental methods available to study cell apposition to a surface are described, with an emphasis on interference reflection microscopy. Second, selected experimental evidence is presented to show that there is a quantitative relationship between "adhesiveness" and "contact extension", and some theoretical models aimed at relating these parameters are briefly sketched. Third, experimental data on the kinetics of initial contact extension are described and possible mechanisms for driving this extension are discussed, including nonspecific forces, receptor-mediated interactions, active cell movements or passive membrane fluctuations. It is concluded that both passive physical phenomena and random active cell movements are possible candidates for the initial triggering of contact extension.

Is there a predictable relationship between surface physical-chemical properties and cell behaviour at the interface?

There is much interest in predicting and controlling the outcome of interaction between artificial surfaces and living cells. However, although there is an impressive amount of information on the behaviour of many cell populations deposited on a variety of surfaces, there is presently no available theory to explain or even summarize these data. Indeed, it is not even obvious that such a theory may exist. The aim of the present review is to emphasize the problems encountered when one attempts to build such a theory. Three sequential steps of cell surface interactions are considered: 1) protein adsorption is a preliminary step liable to involve irreversible interaction between the surface and several hundreds of molecular species occurring in blood or plasma. 2) the second step is the formation of adhesive bonds. Several theoretical frameworks were suggested to account for this step, including DLVO theory, physical chemistry of surfaces, and formation of specific ligand-receptor bonds. It is concluded that present evidence supports the latter approach, although this involves serious difficulties. 3) The last step is the triggering of a specific cell program such as apoptosis, proliferation, migration, differentiation or activation. Recent evidence suggests that in addition to the nature and amount of stimulated surface receptors, additional cues such as substratum mechanical or topographical properties may significantly affect cell behaviour.

Mechanisms of leukocyte adhesion.

The interaction between granulocytes and endothelial walls may be influenced by the blood flow. This possibility was investigated by studying the influence of fluid flow on the adhesion and detachment of 51Cr-labeled rat granulocytes interacting with protein-coated glass surfaces. It is concluded that: i) Adhesion is markedly decreased when the wall shear rate becomes higher than about 20 s-1. ii) Pretreating glass with concanavalin A or polylysine significantly decreased adhesion, whereas fibronectin had little effect on binding. iii) Very high flow rates (about one thousandfold higher than those compatible with bond formation) were required to provoke substantial detachment of substrate-bound cells. iv) Coating glass with laminin or polylysine decreased binding strength whereas fibronectin or concanavalin A did not substantially influence this parameter. v) Exposing granulocytes to phorbol myristate acetate might increase the cell ability to form strong adhesions, whereas labile adhesion was unaffected or even decreased by this treatment.

[Adhesion molecules and cancer]. / Les molécules d'adhésion en cancérologie.

INTRODUCTION: This review was aimed at summarizing recent advances in the understanding of cell adhesion in order to discuss the possible relevance of new knowledge to the exploration of cancer patients and elaboration of therapeutic strategies. CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND KEY POINTS: During the last 10 years, many adhesion molecules were identified, thus allowing to determine their tissue distribution and functional regulation. The concept of adhesiveness was refined. It is now well known that adhesive rate (i.e., the minimal contact time required for bond formation) and binding strength (i.e., the minimal force required to detach bound cells) are distinct parameters. They may be regulated independently, and influence the cell behavior in different ways. It is now possible to achieve accurate control of tumor cell adhesiveness, either by inhibiting an adhesive mechanism (through monoclonal antibodies, competitive ligands, or inhibition of receptor expression with antisense strategy or gene knock-out) or by promoting a binding mechanism (with receptor transfection or pro-inflammatory stimulation). FUTURE PROSPECTS AND PROJECTS: Recent progress opens new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. First, the interpretation of experimental data may be improved. Cell adhesive behavior is not entirely accounted for by the density of membrane adhesion receptors. Indeed, adhesion is influenced by receptor connection to the cytoskeleton and structure of the cell coat. An adhesion receptor may be anti-metastatic through an increase in tumor cohesion and cell differentiation, or pro-metastatic, through facilitation of cell migration towards a target tissue. New therapeutic strategies may include anti-adhesive procedure aimed at preventing metastasis formation. The potential importance of a better control of inflammatory processes is also emphasized in view of the influence of these processes on the expression of adhesion molecules.

Early contacts between T lymphocytes and activating surfaces.

Cells continually probe their environment to adapt their behaviour. A current challenge is to determine how they analyse nearby surfaces and how they process information to take decisions. We addressed this problem by monitoring human T lymphocyte attachment to surfaces coated with activating anti-CD3 or control anti-HLA antibodies. Interference reflection microscopy allowed us to monitor cell-to-surface apposition with a few nanometre vertical resolution during the first minutes following contact. We found that (i) when a cell fell on a surface, contact extension was preceded by a lag of several tens of seconds. (ii) During this lag, vertical membrane undulations seemed to generate transient contacts with underlying surfaces. (iii) After the lag period, the contact area started increasing linearly with a rate of about 1.5 µm(2) s(-1) on activating surfaces and about 0.2 µm(2) s(-1) on control surfaces. (iv) Concomitantly with lateral surface extension, the apparent distance between cell membranes and surfaces steadily decreased. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the cell decision to spread rapidly on activating surfaces resulted from the integration of information yielded by transient contacts with these surfaces generated by membrane undulations during a period of about 1 min.

Studying receptor-mediated cell adhesion at the single molecule level.

Cell adhesion is essentially mediated by specific interactions between membrane receptors and ligands. It is now apparent that the mere knowledge of the on- and off-rate of association of soluble forms of these receptors and ligands is not sufficient to yield accurate prediction of cell adhesive behavior. During the last few years, a variety of complementary techniques relying on the use of hydrodynamic flow, atomic force microscopy, surface forces apparatus or soft vesicles yielded accurate information on i) the dependence of the lifetime of individual bonds on applied forces and ii) the distance dependence of the association rate of bound receptors and ligands. The purpose of this review is, first to recall the physical significance of these parameters, and second to describe newly obtained results. It is emphasized that molecular size and flexibility may be a major determinant of the efficiency of receptor mediated adhesion, and this cannot be studied by conventional methods dealing with soluble molecules.

Localization of calcium and microfilament changes in mechanically stressed cells.

We combined fluorescence labeling, digital image processing, and micromanipulation to investigate the intracellular events induced by inflicting a mechanical stress on rat basophilic leukemia cells. Our findings were as follows: 1. Most cells displayed a localized calcium rise in response to micropipet aspiration. This represented an average threefold increase as compared to resting level, and it was observed during the first 10 s following aspiration. A slow return to initial level occurred within about 3 min. Further, this calcium rise involved a mobilization of intracellular stores, since it was not prevented by adding a calcium chelator into the extracellular medium. 2. All micropipet-aspirated cells displayed a local accumulation of microfilaments, with a preferential localization in the cell protrusions or near the pipet tips. 3. No absolute correlation was found between the localization of calcium rise and cytoskeletal accumulation. 4. Cell deformability was decreased when intracellular calcium was maintained at a constant (high or low) level with ionomycin and/or EGTA. It is concluded that cells have a general ability to respond to mechanical stimulation by a coordinated set of events. More parameters must be studied before the mechanisms of cell shape regulation are fully understood.

Localization of myosin in normal human liver hepatocytes using immunohistochemical amplification methods.

Different immunohistochemical amplification systems were used to visualise myosin in normal human hepatocytes. With biotin-streptavidin-peroxidase and immunogold silver staining, myosin was distributed along the plasma membranes and at the bile canaliculi. With biotin-streptavidin-rhodamine, myosin was mainly found at the bile canaliculi level, however with confocal microscopy, the plasma membrane fluorescent staining was more apparent. The staining pattern of myosin appeared to be similar to that of actin in normal human hepatocytes.